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[Synthia]

Some tales from the Order of the Scarlet Wombat.

1. The Grand Master

"Kneel", said the Queen.
I did so, and she touched my shoulders with the ceremonial sword.
"By the Authority of God and the Crown of Kaztropol, I name You, Grand Master of the Order of the Scarlet Wombat. Arise, Lady Eade."
And with those words, my life changed. I used to be a soldier, things were simple. Defend my people against those that would harm them, heretics and blasphemers.
Now, I was a knight, and not just any knight. Somehow, the Queen had learned of my name, and had decided I would be the woman to lead the newly formed Order that she had created.
I stood up. The Queen smiled at me, an unnerving experience. She is pleasant looking in her official portraits, but to see her in person is unsettling.
"I present to You, a Suit of Heraldic Armour."
A golden suit of armour was wheeled out by some servants. It was the most ornate suit I had ever laid eyes on. Central on the breastplate was an icon of a wombat, the scourge of the countryside, and the rest of the suit was engraved with passages from Scripture.
"It is beautiful, your Majesty." I said.
"Yes. The Word of Scripture is a Shield for the Righteous."
I continued to look over the armour, and almost missed what the Queen had to say next.
"This Sword is your Symbol of Office."
A servant presented a sword on a pillow to me. I would have been hesitant to have worn the armour in anything other than ceremonial duties only, but I had no such concerns with the sword. It was clearly meant to be used, a long steel blade, with a pommel in the form of a wombat head.
"Thank you, your Majesty"
"As Master of the Order of the Scarlet Wombat, there are Several Duties you will Fulfil. The Security of Kaztropol and the People is Important. I grant you Authority to select and Recruit Knights from the Population, in order to Perform your Duties."
"Yes, your Majesty"
"My Officials will Explain to You the other Property that comes with the Order. There is a Temple that has been Constructed, to act as your Headquarters. There are also Funds Available."
At this point, a servant brought forth a small chest, opening it to reveal thousands of gold Kazerius coins.
"Let All persons Rejoice at this Momentous Occasion"
With this, I was dismissed. Officials came, with documents explaining a great deal, and an official car arrived to take me to the Temple.

Grand Master of the Order of the Scarlet Wombat. Quite an achievement for an Udorian farm girl, I thought. I had no idea of what would happen in the months to follow.

[Synthia]

2. The Temple

In the car on the way to the temple, the official explained to me a few things.
"You'll be expected to maintain a residence within the Temple, there's plenty of apartments, naturally. They're well equipped. There's a small staff that will show you around and answer your questions."

I nodded, and the car pulled up outside a tall building. I looked up as I exited. There was an impressive stained glass circular window, featuring a knight with the wombat emblem, above the entrance to the building, the main doors of which were flanked by statues of knights in armour.

"Impressive", I remarked. "Synthia had this constructed when?"
"The Queen ordered construction three months ago, and it was finished about a week ago"
"Amazing"

The official left, and the Order servants arrived to show me around.
"This is the door to your apartment" said one, gesturing.
"Here is your office" said another.

The office was well equipped, a fine desk faced a window with a view of the Kaztropolis skyline, and a curious object stood on a pedestal.
"Is that a bust of the Queen?" I asked.
"Yes, your Ladyship. It is also a communicator"
"Really? How does it work?"
"Simply stand in front of it, and address the Queen."
"Interesting."
"Will there be anything else, your Ladyship?"
"No, that's all, you're dismissed."

I looked at the bust. It was quite an accurate likeness.
"Synthia", I said.
The eyes of the bust lit up. "Hello" said the head. "How are Things?"
Even as a disembodied head, the Queen's speech was recognisable. It was somewhat offputting.
"Things are fine, your Majesty, just settling in and familiarising myself. I did not know you had such communicator devices."
"Yes. It seemed a Good Idea. They are most Useful."
"I was about to start drawing up a list of potential knights." I said.
"That is Commendable. Was there anything Else?"
"No, your Majesty"
"Enjoy your Day, Lady Eade", said the head, the light in the eyes switching off.

I sat down at my desk, and found a sheet of paper to start writing some names down. People I knew from my service in the Army, and a few others. I needed people I could depend on, if I was to make a go of this.

[Synthia]

3. The First Wombat War

"Hello, your Majesty, how may I serve?"
"Hello. An Outer Settlement has reported an Invasion of Large and Aggressive Wombats, threatening Crops, Livestock and Citizens. I require you to Investigate and take Action."
"Wombats, eh. We'll take care of them, your Majesty"
"Yes." said the bust, the eyes fading.

Wombats. Large ones. Not unusual, but normally they're quite passive. Attacking things is very uncommon. I reviewed the instructions, and drew up a list of people and equipment for this mission.

We would take two personnel carriers, and a dozen Knights, embark on the monorail to the outlying settlement, which would take a good few hours to reach.

We filled the time playing cards and chit-chat.
"Are these wombats actually dangerous? or are the villagers just panicky?"
"I don't know, we'll find out when we get there. Might be nothing, nice to get out of Kaztropol for a bit anyway, stretch our legs as it were"
"Yeah, it's a bit claustrophobic. The Queen always present and all that."
"Less seditious talk please"

Still half an hour from our destination, the coastal village of Nova Xerah, the monorail unexpectedly slowed down.
"Knight commander, there is an object on the track" said the monorail intercom.
I pressed the talk button "You need us to move it?"
"That would be appreciated, yes"

I was stiff after the journey, so took the chance to walk around, and see this object that required the monorail to stop.
"Grandmaster, you'd better see this" said one of my Knights.
"urgh, I feel sick" said one of the monorail crewmen.
It was the body of a young woman, partially eaten, lying on the track.
"Oh my" I said.
"Looks like these wombats are dangerous after all"
"Get one of the body bags. Someone will be missing her" I said, while kneeling down to examine the body.

No remnants of clothing remained on the poor soul, only a small gold necklace.
"She looks Udorian, boss"
"I agree, poor girl. Possibly sunbathing or surfing when this thing got her. How close are we to the coast?"
"About three kilometres here"
"Hmm"
We put the poor girl into a body bag, and re-embarked on the train, to continue to Nova Xerah.
"Weapons ready when we arrive at Nova Xerah, Knights."

I had a bad feeling about what we might find.

[Synthia]

4. The Battle of Nova Xerah

"Knight Commander, we are now arriving at Nova Xerah. No response from station traffic control"
"Understood."
This did not sound good at all. As the monorail pulled into the station, we began to disembark our vehicles. No citizens were around, which filled us with unease. In the small settlements of Kaztropol, an unscheduled train would normally attract attention.

"Let's have a look at the map", I said.
Our projector map displayed the settlement and the surrounding terrain.
"Alright, we're here, and the town hall is there, the main hospital here, and what's this house, ah, the governor's mansion, I think we should start there, see if they have more information."

As the monorail departed back to Kaztropolis we drove off. The sun was setting. Still no sign of any citizens. Buildings loomed out of the darkness.
"I have a bad feeling about this, boss"
"Mhmm, wait, what's that moving over there"
"MTAC?"
"Shouldn't be any MTACs here. Kill the lights. Sword 2, enemy armour, engage."
"Copy Sword 1, Engaging enemy"
Our gatling laser turrets swivelled and fired. A burning smell filled the air as the rounds impacted the enemy.
"Direct hit, wait, what the..."
"Sword 1, Are you seeing what I'm seeing, boss?"
"Sword 2, I'm not sure, are you seeing an MTAC sized dead animal?"

"Put the searchlight on that"
The brilliant white beam illuminated the scene. Lying in the middle of the road, the recently deceased corpse of an MTAC sized wombat.
"I didn't think they got this big, boss"
"Me neither. Lets press on. Watch out for more of them"
We continued towards the Governor's mansion.

[Synthia]

5. The Governor's Mansion

We pulled up to the mansion, there were animal footprints through the ornamental garden, and many of the lower floor windows were smashed.

"I don't like the look of this, boss"
"Me neither. Put the lights on."

Our searchlight illuminated the area. We didn't see any movement.

"Loudspeakers."
"Hello. Is anyone there?", I said, the amplified sound echoing from the building.

"Movement, boss"
A faint voice called out.
"How does the Queen pronounce the?"

"pronounce what, boss?"
"It's a riddle"
I thought for a moment before answering "With a capital letter"
The voice replied "Good!"

There were sounds from within, and the front door opened. A few dishevelled people stood there, holding weapons.
I disembarked from our vehicle.
"Hello, I'm Knight Commander Eade, we're here to help"
"Thank the Lord!" said one of the women.
"Where is the Governor? Who is in command here?" I asked
"He's dead, the tribals got him"
"Tribals?" I frowned.
"You haven't seen them? blue skinned tribal people, leading those beasts"
"I wasn't aware there were any tribal people"
"Neither were we! They came out of nowhere, rampaging animals, blowing trumpets, it was horrible!"
"I see. This is the first time anyone's seen them?"
"As far as we know, yeah"
"I think I'll need to inform the Queen of this. Where are the rest of the villagers?"
"Think some of them were in the church, not sure where anyone else is. Is it safe?"
"We shot one tank sized wombat. Haven't seen any others so far."
"If it's all the same to you then, we'll be staying put here."
"As you wish."

I returned to our vehicle.
"Get the Palace on the comm. The Queen needs to know this."
"Hello"
"Your majesty. Nova Xerah has been attacked by tribal people leading rampaging wombats. Casualties are unknown as yet, we're still investigating. The Governor is apparently dead, killed by the tribals. We found one body, a Udorian girl, partially eaten."
"I See. This is Troubling. I Request that you obtain a Prisoner if Possible. For Questioning."
"As you wish, your Majesty"
"I shall send Reinforcements as Soon as possible. It will be some Hours. Good Luck."
"Thank you, your Majesty"

"Alright, Knights, new orders, if we see one of these tribals, we're to grab them. Queen wants to question them."
"Any support boss?"
"In a few hours, we can't hang around though. Lets get to it."